TowandaUK

Just picked up a couple of masquerade masks at our local garden centre Christmas display. 

3 hours ago, gfs1ram said:

I'm not sure when your first Cunard Cruise will be but another little tip is if you can, book your future Cunard cruise/s whilst on board with Voyage Sales.

For a balcony you will receive on board credit (OBC) of $300 each for a 10-24 night cruise and $150 each for a  6 - 9 night cruise. Other categories of Staterooms also qualify for OBS at varying levels.

You will also only pay £175 deposit each and the booking can be transferred to your Travel Agent if you have one to also get their discounted price.

Worth remembering but go prepared beforehand so you know the cruises you are interested in and approximate prices. Do not rely on Voyage Sales to get you the best deal.

2 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

but bear in mind, the itineraries will have been on sale for six or seven months so if anyone has specific cabins in mind, best to book early, shoreside or onboard.

Yes this is our dilemma at the moment. Our first cruise is on Anne on May 10th. We are torn whether to book now or wait until we get onboard to get the benefits of doing it that way. The danger is that if we wait that prices may have gone up. At the moment we are trying to nail down the type of room we will go for and narrow down which cruises we may be interested in and monitor prices. 

Thank you for your detailed reply. We booked our first Cunard cruise only 3 months ago so still have a lot to learn about Cunard. We are hoping to book another cruise before long so your information is very useful. 

32 minutes ago, gfs1ram said:

 NO.

Can you explain why please? The price difference is quite big so I am curious how they justify it. 

Looking at the difference between Britannia and Club rooms. Can’t see a lot of difference considering the extra cost for Club. I know that Club has a separate dining room with an assigned table just for you. Is there much difference in the menus in these two categories?  I can see there is a lot more on offer to those in Grills, but is it worth paying extra for Club rather than Britannia?  

4 hours ago, Kynance said:

I’ve put the central heating on this morning for the first time this autumn - the temperature in the bedroom had dipped below 18 degrees which is my trigger for hitting the switch….

 

We had a week in Cornwall at the end of September - weather was a bit mixed - but it doesn’t spoil the photo opportunities. 
 

We too were in Cornwall at the end of September for our son’s wedding. Lovely weekend at Mawgan Porth. 

We too are booked for May 10. Looking at the recent YouTube tour I had to wonder how on earth it will be a fully functioning ship by then. However I choose to believe all the major things will be in place and will try to go with the flow with any glitches. 
As we are new to Cunard we booked by choosing itinerary and date, and only realised later that it was only the second voyage. So looking forward to it. Not many on the roll call for this sailing yet. 

2 hours ago, Carnevale said:

For those in regular staterooms are these pop ups available to us and, if so, what is the cost?  Thx!

This info shows up in the thread kindly posted by blue marble which details the daily programmes. Coriander is advertised as $25 cover charge. 

Thanks for the suggestions. I think it’s quite possible that covid may have put a stop to it. 
The roll call could have been a good idea but there are very few on ours and I seem to have been the only one posting on it for quite a while. I’ll probably leave it until nearer sailing and see if the roll call has livened up by then. 
Thanks all. 

I think I read a while ago that some sailings have a book club. This intrigues me. Is this just for specific voyages such as transatlantic crossings or on all sailings? Are books announced beforehand?  I’m not a rapid reader and may need to have a head start if participating. 

4 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Thanks for clarification.    I didn't know they jumped numbers around like that.   I would expect nothing less in you Penthouse.

Hi Jim. Spoken with you a few times on the Celebrity forum. We are booked on Queen Anne next year on our first Cunard voyage. Good to see you here. 

I’m afraid I don’t have the answer for you. We are sailing next May and have not got details of themes yet. 

We have had all our vaccinations as they have become available. I know 4 people who died from covid, so am well aware of how serious it can be. However, I now tend to treat it like flu ( yes that can be fatal too). I treat covid with respect but not fear.  Despite masking up and avoiding crowds on our 2022 cruise (masks were still common then) we developed covid within days of returning home. Something that can happen anywhere, anytime. It’s still around and with new variations -  2 of my grandsons currently have it. I don’t plan on wearing a mask unless there is a widespread outbreak onboard. 

What is the current protocol onboard if you pick up covid during your cruise?

2 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

 I apologise if I came across as shouting, I wasn't but there you go.

 

There is a price reduction, but only on the whole voyage plans. The daily rates haven't changed so we are both right. Let's call it a partial Sale.🙂

Thank you. 

11 minutes ago, Pushpit said:

What is interesting is that @TowandaUK who I guess is not CWC yet, can go ahead right now and get a rate that I can't get as CWC. Their red box shows as being live now, mine is greyed out. Hopefully that changes real soon!

Thank you Pushpit for the clarification. As you surmise this is my first time on Cunard (although not my first cruise) so am not yet got CWC benefits. Hopefully anyone who already has the option of buying at a cheaper rate can now do so.  Fingers crossed that it will be available to all soon. 

When I log into My Cunard it is the first thing that comes up. 

I don’t plan on entering into an argument so will leave it there. 

21 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

If you are first time cruisers, you won't have had any previous experience of the internet so I assure you, it's been the same price all this year.

That aside, welcome to the world of Cunard. I sincerely hope you have a wonderful first cruise.

I might not know what Cunard was charging on past cruises, but I know what it was quoting me yesterday was more than it is quoting me today. Didn’t plan to get shouted down when I posted. My only concern was to alert folks who may also benefit from this price reduction. 

As an ex Celebrity cruiser I am so glad to have found Cunard. 

It’s definitely a price reduction for us. Prior to this we would have had to pay £50 more to get WiFi for the whole cruise. It’s only for a limited time and then the cost will increase again, so it feels like a sale. We are first time cruisers with Cunard so have no WC reduction available. 

We are on Anne for her second cruise next May. T & C says sale subject to change but available now until the end of November. I assume Anne will launch with Starlink. 

Just noticed in My Cunard that there is a sale on WIFI due to Starlink being launched. Cost works out at $15 per day per device. That is good value compared to buying piecemeal onboard at $24 per day. I had planned to buy 24 hours at a time and spread it out. However I can now get the whole 14 day cruise covered for the equivalent of 8.75 days bought individually. 

6 hours ago, gphb said:

Dining Experience

The culinary offerings in Britannia and Kings Court were underwhelming. The menus were reminiscent of lackluster British school meals, brimming with comfort food slathered in uninspired gravy and custard. While the nostalgia is palpable, the execution leaves much to be desired. Breakfast in Britannia lacked options like waffles and French toast, and the versions served in Kings Court were unrecognizable.  In the past we would place HAL or Celebrity in similar overall quality, but would now rank Cunard a distinct third by comparison on this trip.  We actually couldn't wait to get off the ship for better food.  It can't all be about cost, as Cunard are the only line we've been on in 2023 that routinely still serves steak in the main restaurants, but unfortunately even this they managed to make un-tasty. 

I’m not sure how recently you sailed with celebrity?  We sailed on Celebrity Silhouette in June this year and also July/August 2022. We saw a marked deterioration in food between the two cruises. It was part of the reason for us deciding to change to Cunard for our next cruise. On X we found the choice greatly curtailed and quality dipped in the main dining room. Choice in the buffet was extremely limited in the evening. We booked extra speciality dining to ensure better meals. I have seen few complaints on these Cunard threads about food, whereas there are multiple remarks on the X board about poor food. Our first Cunard cruise is next spring, and I am hopeful that we shall not be disappointed in the dining. 

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

One of my favourite ports.

Mine too!  

We were in Bergen earlier this year. We were on a ships excursion (Celebrity). We passed the funicular and it was further from the ship than I would be comfortable to walk with my stick. Bergen is one of the rainiest places to go in Norway, and we didn’t go as high as the funicular but it was so rainy we couldn’t see much at all. It might pay to wait and see what the weather is like when you get there.